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Thursday, 22 November 2012

Youngsters have been doing it successfully for centuries, creating and inventing gadgets, apps etc. But we don't often hear if the government has used its own resourcefulness to reward the passion, vision, adaptability and creative minds of these fresh innovators. Another mastermind , an Israeli 13-year-old, has. Just made one of the most relevant inventions till date.

Beersheba's own Liron Bar may have created the biggest bar-mitzvah present ever with his new iPhone app 'Color Red' which tracks incoming rockets from Gaza, the way many of us might use a traffic app, to avoid gridlock on a highway.

The unofficial warning system application named "Color Red" was thought up by 13-year-old Lion Bar of Beersheba, The Times of Israel reports.

Bar's free app, which takes its name from Israel's missile attack warnings, was developed by volunteer Kobi Snir, according to the report. Notifications in Hebrew are sent to iPhone users every time an air raid warning goes out across the government's public safety network. The app can also tell users where the nearest shelter is, according to RT.com.

Unfortunately, with more than 100 rockets and missiles being fired into Southern Israel from Gaza on a daily basis since the Israel Defense Forces began its defensive Operation Pillar of Defense, there's no telling how many lives might be saved by Liron's vision.

According to Yedioth Ahronoth, the user receives a special notification signal as soon an alert is heard in the Jewish State.

Liron also sends users regular reports on missile attack warnings, known as Color Red alerts on Facebook. The app also lets users know how many seconds have elapsed since the Color Red was broadcast.

Liron Bar

The general rule of thumb in the south of Israel is that residents have 15 to 20 seconds to find a shelter before a missile lands, Israel has a sophisticated warning system in place with its Iron Dome anti-missile defense system and air raid sirens, but citizens working indoors don't always hear the warnings, according to CNN's Fred Pleitgen. The app gives some people a little more time to get to shelter. When a Color Red notification is detected, the app sounds an alert and displays the number of seconds since the missile warning siren, the Times reports.

Colonel Avital Leibovich said that some citizens have as little as 15 seconds to find shelter, so any mobile device that can help is a good solution, according to the CNN report.